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Hachette versus Kindle

Here we go again! The fight is over pricing. Many Hachette eBooks run $14.99 to $19.99. Amazon Kindle reduces the price. Hachette complains and has rallied their authors in support. Kindle defends its stance by saying any eBook over $9.00 is gouging the public.

Okay. That said. The issue goes far deeper. What you see is an industry struggling to redefine itself. Penguin buys AuthorHouse and now controls a vast number of Print-On-Demand publishers. Huh? Agents are offering to assist the Self-Published authors in an attempt to become their publisher and promoter for a fee. Double huh? And why are these weird moves happening? The traditional publishing companies realize Indie authors are eating in to bottom-line profits. Fear now drives the industry.

I’m an Amazon affiliated author. I publish through Kindle, Create Space, and Audible, all Amazon Companies. I know through my own experience that publishing an eBook costs next to nothing. I price my eBooks at $3.99 and my paperbacks at $14.95. Reasonable prices for the expenses I incur. So I guess I manage my outgo versus income a lot better than traditional publishers do.

For novice writers beginning their careers and attempting to not only learn the craft of writing, but also try to get published, the process is like struggling to solve a Rubik’s Cube. I will be conducting a seminar called, SO YOU WANT TO BE A PUBLISHED AUTHOR on October 11th, at Grace Church in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. If you are perplexed with the above issues, and live with a day’s drive of the Greater Tulsa area, email me at bwetterman@cox.net for information on this seminar. You’ll be glad you did.